Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Ragnarok Online: Developer Journal #1
Dana
Member Posts: 2,415
Ragnarok Online developer Cianar Cabos pens the first developer journal from Gravity. In this first issue he discusses his position and what he does to improve the game.
;) If I remember my company dossier correctly Ragnarok first started off as a comic in Korea by Myung Jin Lee. That comic was so good, people in other countries started reading it too and it sort of became an international comic phenomenon. Then, some dude who loved the comic got the idea of making a Ragnarok Online MMORPG in Korea, and lo and behold, people in other countries started playing it and that became an international MMORPG phenomenon. Thanks to new updates and features that are developed and released on a quarterly basis and the enthusiastic support of its player community, RO has endured for three years. |
You can read the full article here.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Comments
Could someone please clearify which company Cianar Cabos is working for? Is it Gravity Co. Ltd. or the US devision Gravity Interactive LLC.?
I'm asking because there's more than one localization team and the patch files iRO gets are being packed in Korea. So, are patchs already translated in Korea or is someone from Gravity Interactive LLC. doing it?
Despite ill words I have encountered on this site regarding RO, I remain a big fan. This article brought a smile to my face, to discover that the designers are thinking a bit like us players. Well written, and keep up the good work.
I might add that the community of iro RO is the most friendly and all-around outstanding I have yet encountered in a MMORPG.
Thanks!
"And NO sprinkles! For every sprinkle I find, I shall....KILL you!"
Stewie
Im pretty sure the localization teams are based in Korea, and the translate versions to different languages. Remember iRO is not the only RO that uses an English based client. pRO, bRO, mRO, and a few others also use an english client. So to increase workflow, they translate it in Korea and then sell those updates to its subsidaries.
The subsidary offices consist of 1 head person who handles all the operations of the subsidary office. They are typically a paid Gravity Korea employee. The remaining staff at the subsidary office are engineers to maintain the servers. There are 10 at the iRO office, and a GM team to keep players happy; there are 30 GMs at the iRO office.
No development to my knowledge is handled at a subsidary office.
Also it seems odd that they would post this news here, there are like 10 people who come to this forum that keep up with Ragnarok Online. I mean they havent even said anything about Ragnarok Online 2, and how it will be entering Closed beta after a Trade Show in japan. The closed beta will most likely be limited to Korea.
This game looks like a HYPER CHARGED version of Tibia! doesn't it?
Too bad this journal reminds me more of an ad than a (developers) journal. Good thing the writer actually knows english (& has excellent writing skills) since Gravity isnt famous for its english language support.
(Anyone know what happened to the one native english speaker that was hired at end of beta2? Was rumored to get placed on "eRO" but got to work on some other client?)
Wow you guys havent played RO in a while cause most of what you said is no longer true about Gravity.
The english is great cause they hired translators, thats what the guy who wrote the journal primarily does, changes the korean to english. The customer support is literally the best in the industry now. Even if you have in-game GM's in worlds of warcraft, you still cant count on them to responding to your request within 6 hours. Gravity's GMs now respond in less than an hour. Plus the servers only rescently had problems, but despite the problems, they are still far superior to the stability of a Private server. After all thats why we pay, to get the customer support and the server stability.
Here are some things to remember about private servers. If you run into a problem, you can't very well ask at an official site how to fix it since the technology is different. So your stuck trying to get answers from the engine writers, which could take weeks. Your lucky to keep your characters for a week, and the play doesnt match the original version since it is emulated. Not to mention it adds a whole string of bugs trying to play the kRO client on emulated engine since if it is written like the original engine then the engine writers get thier pants sued off.
Also its funny how you think Blizzard listens to customers cause what have they done that the customers wanted? Make it so you can actually get into your server (after almost a year from its original release)? Gravity definetly listens to thier customers now after the whole string of bad updates 2 years ago with Amatsu, Kunlun, and Advanced classes. So now if you look at thier updates they look like fun, like players suggested them and they refined them. They are even making one of the most beautifully rendered games in mmo history with Ragnarok Online 2 cause thier customers complained about the graphics in Ragnarok Online. The difference between Gravity and Blizzard is that Gravity tries its best to have atleast 1 update every month and a major update every 6 months. Your lucky to see a minor update from blizzard in 3.
It was a nice read.but we want info on RO2!!! I can't wait till TGS...I'll die before then.
I am very sorry to hear this Cleffy.
When I decided to quit ragnarok, A monster called Lord of Death was put into the game, allowing friends and whole guilds to literally make the final level (99) within days. Whole guilds (Lethal Death, Gods of War, Mealstrom) ect. Would actually exploit this monster, now were is the fun in that? Did gravity fix this problem? No, they waited untill the next available update (Juno) was released. Even this did not stop the problem compleatly. I have re-activated my account within the year to say hello to all my friends who were hard to find, since everyone in prontera has a 99 aura.
Blizzard has infact, had 12 updates, two wich have been major content patches (1.5.1 and 1.6.1) between the dates of June 8, 2005 and August 12, 2005. The updates are all listed on the site if you would like to look them up. While I can't comment on Gravity's new customer service, blizzard has taken me from 5 days, to 2 hours on repsonses. Ive grown out of that game, the damage is done, and while the customer service may have improved, even us devoted fans have moved on to newer and 3-d games.
Now what guild was I in with you? I know a Cleff, Knight.
Don't mean to sound so defensive about Gravity, but alot of you are accusing them of things that are not longer true. I also moved on to other games cause well its boring.
I was in the Crimson Guard
The Pirates of Al de Baran
Dragoon Knights
Noblesse Oblige
and Nuetral~Authority
Also they got rid of the LoD farming; and made people aware of who has been LoD farming. Cause they special classes but total noobs with them and have terrible builds.
hahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha
i play RO and there is no real development....there has been no UI updates, graphics are still poor, latency is still an issue(its fuckin 2d sprites), and player customizations suck. I only play for my guild and allies to help during WoE.
just to let ya know where i'm coming from- I play as Baltimore Dank on Chaos server with the guild Deity, we're allied with the strongest USA guilds- Denuo Covena, Resurrection, LethalDeath, Harbingers of LLoth, Kyotetzu, and the rest the GOLD aliance....our enemies at wave are a formidable foe too... I'm also a professional tester for several publishers and other game companies.
RO has so many bugs it's recockulous.....adding a fucked up map doesnt count as development and i believe theres 0 american development, just server people, and PR fags(no offense gay folks). that juno talk is full bullshit, i quit last september to play WoW and juno hasnt changed cept for a monster named paper there(just came back 3weeks ago)....there is no development or new graphics....
i hate lies and hype....RO has failed because they gave up on it....WoW has more new content in a month than RO has had 3yrs....
If you need help testing a game and need some bug finders, mail me here, i got a whole team ready to smoke yur game.
Its the engine itself, I get the EXACT same slowdowns on my P2-233 & my new P4-3ghz (with 1gig ram etc). Gravity cant fix it since its 4/5 years now that that issue is still in. (/effect works but then you can see any effects, dont know if that command can still be used).
Another problem is that its better to kill bosses & MVP:s alone because server cannot track team-damage or divide loot to a team other then dropping everything on the ground & give some players priotity (click-fest).
Class-balance has never existed & never will, tank-damage-heal & thats it. There is one heal class (acolyte, which get class selections later but still count as on) so EVERYBODY bugs them because the HP/MP gain by sitting is messed up.
(Did they change so it takes less than one hour sitting for thief-classes to get full MP?).